Links, 10.17.11

The links took a week off, presumably to go leaf-peeping in Vermont, where we hear (via our sister, who was just there) that they are having a beautiful season and are as hospitable as ever, despite a challenging time from Hurricane Irene. (Check out Foliage Vermont for updates, if you’re the leaf-watching type.)

Bad, bad, bad: This destruction of historic grave markers at a Greenwich (UK) cemetery looks so mindless and heartless that it just had to be the work of vandals, right? Amazingly, however, it was part of a park revitalization effort. Oddly enough, nobody is rushing forward to claim they know just why it happened. h/t Dick Eastman.

Women warriors: An intriguing story to think about in these weeks leading up to Veterans’ Day: Danville (Ill.) columnist Joan Griffis draws our attention to a NARA Prologue publication about women soldiers of the Civil War. If, like me, you hadn’t heard of this three-part article before, it’s worth a look.

List-savvy: See, this is why I still like old-fashioned email lists. A very nice person on the NY-IRISH list forwarded this Google Books link to an 1850 report to the New York State Senate, which records expenses and payments related to canal work in West Troy (now Watervliet), N.Y. Included are many lists of laborers, many with Irish surnames. Just the sort of fascinating find I love on Google Books. If you have an ancestor who might have been in that area and time frame, check it out.

Embroidered facts: Oh, my. I knew computer-smart sewing machines were capable of greatness, but even so: T-shirts embroidered with fan charts? That is something. As Dick Eastman reports, these Embroidery Charts are an outgrowth of the Charting Companion program from Progeny Genealogy. (Edited to add: See also Tamura Jones, who wrote an interesting post about this and Progeny software in general a few weeks ago. h/t to Patricia in comments.)